Vaccine Research

en Evaluation of systemic and mucosal immune responses of a multi-epitope vaccine candidate composed of virulence factors PcrV and OmpE against Pseudomonas aeruginosa in a BALB/c mouse model Vaccine development, efficacy and safety evaluation Vaccine development, efficacy and safety evaluation پژوهشي Research Introduction: Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a major opportunistic pathogen causing urinary tract infections (UTIs), particularly in hospitalized or immunocompromised patients. Rising antibiotic resistance highlights the urgent need for effective vaccines. PcrV and OmpE as key virulence factors of P. aeruginosa are promising targets for vaccine development. In a previous study, a multi-epitope vaccine construct consisting B- and T-cell epitopes of PcrV and OmpE from P. aeruginosa was designed using immunoinformatics tools. In the present study, the immunogenicity of the recombinant protein was assessed in a murine model. Methods: After purification of the multi-epitope protein PcrV.OmpE using Nickel resin, different vaccine formulations including multi-epitope protein alone and admixed with alum were injected into mice through the subcutaneous route. Thereafter, the levels of systemic humoral and mucosal immune responses were investigated using ELISA method. Results: The multi-epitope vaccine construct alone elicited strong systemic IgG and IgA responses, as well as mucosal antibody in urine as compared to the control mice (p<0.05). The addition of alum significantly boosted systemic IgG and IgA, as well as mucosal IgG antibody response as compared to the multi-epitope alone (p<0.05). Conclusion: These results support the potential of a multi-epitope composed of PcrV and OmpE antigens for the prevention of P. aeruginosa-associated UTIs, warranting further studies on cellular immunity and protective efficacy. Pseudomonas aeruginosa, urinary tract infection, multi-epitope vaccine, PcrV, OmpE 3 6 http://vacres.pasteur.ac.ir/browse.php?a_code=A-10-66-1&slc_lang=en&sid=1 Hamidreza Kalantari Yes Department of Microbiology, ShQ.C., Islamic Azad University, Shahr-e Qods, Iran. Mehri Habibi No Department of Medical Biotechnology, Biotechnology Research Center, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran. Atosa Ferdousi No Department of Microbiology, ShQ.C., Islamic Azad University, Shahr-e Qods, Iran. Mohammad Reza Asadi Karam No Department of Molecular Biology, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Pasteur Ave., Tehran 1316943551, Iran. Taher Mohammadian No Department of Microbiology, ShQ.C., Islamic Azad University, Shahr-e Qods, Iran.